Interested
in what surrealism is and does? Then you'll find this website essential.

The Surrealist
Movement in the United States includes the Chicago Surrealist Group
and its many participants scattered from coast to coast. Formed
in the summer of 1966 with the encouragement of André Breton
and the Surrealist Group in Paris, as well as the surrealists of
many other countries, the Chicago Surrealist Group has carried on
its wide-ranging research and agitation uninterruptedly ever since;
the group has long been recognized as one of the most active, innovative
and prolific in the international surrealist movement. As the Chicago-based
group attracted more and more collaborators from other cities, its
publications increasingly appeared under the name Surrealist Movement
in the U.S.

Radically different
from other websites "about" surrealismthe great majority of
which contain nothing but misinformationthis site is the voice
of the Surrealist Movement itself.

For a summary
of the Surrealist Movement's perspectives today, see the Introduction
("Surrealism: The Chicago Idea") to The
Forecast Is Hot! Tracts & Other Collective Declarations of
the Surrealist Movement in the United States, 1966-1976 (Black
Swan Press, 1997). This collection of ninety-seven documents from
the first ten years of U.S. Surrealism, is edited by Franklin
Rosemont, Penelope Rosemont and Paul Garon.

Surrealism:
Revolution Against Whiteness, the first detailed examination
of surrealism's race politics, from 1924 on, focuses on the movement's
fundamentally anti-Eurocentric outlook, its multiracial composition,
and its many and growing contributions to the struggle against
white supremacy. A special issue of the journal Race Traitor
(Guest Editor: Franklin Rosemont), it includes contributions by
fifteen participants in the Surrealist Movement in the U.S., as
well as several texts from abroad.

Surrealist
Women: An International Anthology, edited with introductions
by Penelope Rosemont, is the first book in any language of writings
by the many women who have taken part in organized surrealism
from its origins to today. With over 300 selections by 97 women,
this breakthrough collection is in fact the largest anthology
devoted to surrealism ever published in English. (University of
Texas Press, 1998).

Paul Garon'sBlues and the Poetic Spirit (revised, expanded edition,
City Lights Books, 1997), is a unique inquiry into blues and the
mind, the blues as thought. A classic of blues literature, Blues
and the Poetic Spirit uncovers the revolutionary and revelatory
potential within the blues and the creative sources from which
it springs.

Woman
with Guitar: Memphis Minnie's Blues
by Paul Garon and Beth Garon (Da Capo, 1992), is a biography of
this exceptional blueswoman: oral history and an analysis of her
songs based in feminist theory, psychoanalysis, and Black studies.

Surrealist
Experiences:1001 Dawns, 221 Midnights by Penelope Rosemont
(Black Swan Press, 2000) focuses on fortuitous encounters, including
the author's adventures in the magnetic fields of "pure psychic
automatism." The book collects articles and essays by Rosemont
from surrealist journals throughout the world, plus several published
now for the first time. Among the many illustrations are examples
of her own automatistic discoveries: the Alchemigram, Landscapade
and Prehensilhouette.

Under the
heading "Tracts & Declarations" we shall regularly post the collective
statements of the Surrealist Movement, starting with our tract
against the World Trade Organization, Who
Needs the WTO? In leaflet form, this statement was widely
distributed in Seattle during the anti-WTO demonstrations.

"Poetry
of the Future" offers a sampling of poemsand statements
on poetryby participants in the Surrealist Movement. This
feature of our website will change frequently as we introduce
new poems and new poets.

"Images
of Desire" reveals new surrealist work in the realm of painting,
drawing, collage, photography and other "visual arts." Every three
months it will feature the work of a particular individual active
in the Surrealist Movement. Our inaugural exhibit focuses on the
collages of Jan Hathaway.

"Surrealist
Games" highlights collective play as a major form of surrealist
research. Currently featured is the game Time-Travelers' Potlatch.

In "The
Surrealist Review of Books" participants in the Surrealist
Movement comment on new or recent books and pamphlets of interest
from the surrealist point of view. Similarly,"The Surrealist Review
of Periodicals" examines current journals, magazines, newspapers
and zines.

In the not-too-distant
future we shall also begin a critical survey of other websites
concerning surrealism.

Black
Swan Press/Surrealist Editions: A complete list of currently
available publications of the Surrealist Movement in the U.S.,
plus a selection of Surrealist and other books of revolutionary
importance published by other publishers but also available from
Black Swan.

Translators
(especially of Czech, French, Greek, Japanese, Serbian, Spanish,
Portuguese and Romanian) are needed for various surrealist book-projects.
These projects are labors of love, involving no payment.

If
you are interested in participating
in the activities of
the Surrealist Movement,
please write us at Black Swan Press
c/o Charles H. Kerr Company
1740 West Greenleaf Av
Chicago, Il 60626

For orders phone 773-465-7774

Let us know, in as much detail as possible:

1)
your views regarding contemporary revolutionary thought and action;
2) your orientation toward surrealism and its project here and now;
and
3) what contribution(s) you believe you can make to surrealist revolution
today.